"As soon as I schedule a hearing, I will let you know the date and time," Brotherton wrote.

State District Judge Lena Levario held Watkins in contempt March 7 after he refused to testify at a hearing where oil family heir Al Hill III accused him of prosecutorial misconduct. Hill alleged Watkins filed mortgage fraud charges against him as a favor to Watkins' friend and political benefactor, Lisa Blue.

Blue and other attorneys were suing Hill for attorneys fees. Hill said that the pending criminal charges prevented him from taking the stand in the fee dispute case. The attorneys were awarded an amount later reduced to $22 million.

At the hearing looking into allegations of misconduct against Watkins, Levario dismissed the charges against Hill, partially because of Watkins' refusal to testify.

Blue invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself at the Hill hearing and did not testify. Levario asked Watkins if he wanted to plead the Fifth and not be held in contempt. But he did not exercise that right.

Watkins instead said he was refusing to testify because how prosecutors do their jobs should not be questioned in court. Legal experts said he had a good argument but gutted it by allowing other prosecutors to testify.